<p><br />Maoist violence and influence may be on the wane in the country if one goes by government statistics, but the hot-bed Chhattisgarh continues to bleed accounting for the highest number of over 1400 incidents and killings of around 200 security personnel in the past five years.</p>.<p>The latest incident of killing of 17 Chhattisgarh police personnel in Minpa jungles of Bastar region in Chhattisgarh on Saturday shows that despite diminishing strength in the region, the Maoists are still able to display abilities for a lightning strike or ambush.</p>.<p>Government statistics also show that Maoists continue to have some impact in Chhattisgarh as the state accounts for 41.26% of the total Maoist incidents since 2016 and 68.06% of the security personnel killed.</p>.<p>The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) recently told the Parliament that there has been a “steady decline in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) related violence and geographical spread of LWE influence” in the country.</p>.<p>This year, according to statistics available till February 15, only four security personnel were killed in Maoist-infested states and all these came from Chhattisgarh. Adding the 17 killed on Saturday, the number will rise to at least 21, which is just one less than last year’s figure of 22, while no other state with Maoist menace has not reported the killing of security personnel.</p>.<p>According to the MHA, six out of the ten Maoist-infested states recorded violence this year till February 15 with Chhattisgarh (39) and Jharkhand (23) topping the list.</p>.<p>Eleven Maoist incidents were reported in Odisha followed by four each incident in Maharashtra and Bihar and two incidents in Maharashtra during this period.</p>.<p>Between 2016 and February this year, Chhattisgarh has witnessed 1,462 incidents in which 179 security personnel were killed. This has now risen to at least 196.</p>.<p>Jharkhand came second with 1,002 incidents in which 33 security personnel were killed. Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, which have been designated as Maoist-infested states, have not reported a single violent incident by Maoists since 2016.</p>.<p>At present, the government has designated 30 districts in seven states as Maoist-infested and Jharkhand has a maximum number of 13. Chhattisgarh has eight districts-Bijapur, Sukma, Bastar, Dantewada, Kanker, Narayanpur, Rajnandgaon and Kondagaon in the list.</p>.<p>MHA figures showed that the government had released Rs 224.63 crore to Chhattisgarh to combat LWE between 2014-15 and it rose to Rs 706.78 crore in the last fiscals between 2017-18 and 2019-20.</p>.<p>Similarly, Rs 848 crore was released by MHA to all the Maoist-affected states between 2014-15 and 2016-17 while Rs 3,414.50 crore have been released between 2017-18 and 2019-20.</p>
<p><br />Maoist violence and influence may be on the wane in the country if one goes by government statistics, but the hot-bed Chhattisgarh continues to bleed accounting for the highest number of over 1400 incidents and killings of around 200 security personnel in the past five years.</p>.<p>The latest incident of killing of 17 Chhattisgarh police personnel in Minpa jungles of Bastar region in Chhattisgarh on Saturday shows that despite diminishing strength in the region, the Maoists are still able to display abilities for a lightning strike or ambush.</p>.<p>Government statistics also show that Maoists continue to have some impact in Chhattisgarh as the state accounts for 41.26% of the total Maoist incidents since 2016 and 68.06% of the security personnel killed.</p>.<p>The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) recently told the Parliament that there has been a “steady decline in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) related violence and geographical spread of LWE influence” in the country.</p>.<p>This year, according to statistics available till February 15, only four security personnel were killed in Maoist-infested states and all these came from Chhattisgarh. Adding the 17 killed on Saturday, the number will rise to at least 21, which is just one less than last year’s figure of 22, while no other state with Maoist menace has not reported the killing of security personnel.</p>.<p>According to the MHA, six out of the ten Maoist-infested states recorded violence this year till February 15 with Chhattisgarh (39) and Jharkhand (23) topping the list.</p>.<p>Eleven Maoist incidents were reported in Odisha followed by four each incident in Maharashtra and Bihar and two incidents in Maharashtra during this period.</p>.<p>Between 2016 and February this year, Chhattisgarh has witnessed 1,462 incidents in which 179 security personnel were killed. This has now risen to at least 196.</p>.<p>Jharkhand came second with 1,002 incidents in which 33 security personnel were killed. Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, which have been designated as Maoist-infested states, have not reported a single violent incident by Maoists since 2016.</p>.<p>At present, the government has designated 30 districts in seven states as Maoist-infested and Jharkhand has a maximum number of 13. Chhattisgarh has eight districts-Bijapur, Sukma, Bastar, Dantewada, Kanker, Narayanpur, Rajnandgaon and Kondagaon in the list.</p>.<p>MHA figures showed that the government had released Rs 224.63 crore to Chhattisgarh to combat LWE between 2014-15 and it rose to Rs 706.78 crore in the last fiscals between 2017-18 and 2019-20.</p>.<p>Similarly, Rs 848 crore was released by MHA to all the Maoist-affected states between 2014-15 and 2016-17 while Rs 3,414.50 crore have been released between 2017-18 and 2019-20.</p>
